Don't Forget 3 Oct 11
by DuHSPaZZiNGFeL
Summary: Empty armor, automail, burning memories from the past...They all come together in such a way that Edward could have never imagined until now. After returning from the Promised Day, Ed, Al, and Winry realize that there are still more lessons to learn from.


**AN: Today is October 3, 2010. It is 99 years since Edward and Alphonse Elric burned down their home. (100 years if you're following the first anime.) So thus, this is FMA Day. **

**This short oneshot was inspired by a recent side story that Arakawa wrote that was published in a magazine in Japan called, "Another Journey's End" in which it is about right after the Elric brothers returned to Resembool and Al receives his old armor in the mail from Central. **

**For those of you following my other story, **_**Dog of the Military**_**, don't worry. Chapter 5 is in its editing process.**

**Don't Forget 3. Oct .11 **

_Clink._

_Clank._

_Cling._

The sounds of metal hitting metal resounded in the firelight. Sparks of flame and coal lifted into the air and the hammers of men pounded onto the once cold, hard, steel. The enclosed area was heated, filled with the smell of burning coal and the sounds of molten minerals sloshing into molds and being shaped and pounded into new forms. The working men huffed and their forearms dripped generously with sweat, while the three onlookers sat almost passively in the corner…well _almost _passively.

"You know Al," an older teen with blond hair tied back into a ponytail, golden irises, and lean muscle turned to his younger brother, "Seeing the old you getting hammered like that kinda pisses me off. It's like an older brother instinct or something. I dunno."

Alphonse Elric, newly freed from his metal prison of four years (a hollow suit of antique armor), laughed nervously under his breath. Edward seemed a little _too _angry. But he guessed that he couldn't blame him. His older sibling had grown so accustomed to seeing his younger one in a larger, taller form, and it must have been a little disheartening to see it transform into nothing but a scrap heap.

"For once I have to agree with Ed," a girl with corn blond locks of hair and azure eyes said uncertainly next to them. She was Winry Rockbell. "I don't know if I like it…"

Al scratched the back of his head, a habit he had recently acquired when he finally realized that he _had _hair again. "C'mon guys. It can't be that bad. I mean, we all agreed that we would turn my old armor into something useful from now on. It was broken down anyway after the Promised Day. It can become a good automail part for someone that really needs it."

Ed grunted in a grudging acceptance. "Yeah, well…it still pisses me off." He slid further down in his seat, folding his two flesh arms across his chest and his remaining artificial left leg scratching against the dirt floor in a resolute response. The other two tried not to give the action a second thought, but it was evident that at least all three of them were uneasy about this decision in some fashion.

Another sharp _clang _rang through and Ed winced. He sighed and looked over to his companion to the other side of him. "You're taking Al for parts right?" When the girl nodded in accord he added, "That's my little brother you're dealing with, Winry. Make him into the best limb you ever made, _ever_."

Her ocean-like eyes glared adamantly at him, shaking her head and feeling her back pocket for the wrench that this very idiot had given to her as a present years prior. She was tempted to throw it straight at his forehead and definitely not for target practice. This was the real deal and she was close to entirely annoyed.

"Don't give me orders Edward," she spat irritably, "What're you, a mother hen? Of course I always make the best! Have I or have I not always made the best, Al?"

Caught off guard, the youngest Elric stuttered, "Uh, but, well—"

She took out her tool and threateningly aimed it for him, to which he replied with an immediate and squeaked 'yes'. When Ed tried to tell her off for forcing his little brother to respond with the answer that the automail mechanic clearly desired, he found himself with a profusely bleeding temple mixed in with a cut and a purpling bruise.

"Geez, woman! You're so hard to understand!" Ed bellowed as he rubbed his tender head, gathering the unwanted attention of the workers as onlookers. "I don't even do anything wrong and I get reprimanded!"

Winry stood up, looming over her prey like a lioness prepared to pounce while Alphonse cowered in the background. None of them even noticed that the sounds of reshaping metal had completely ceased and that all of the working men were gaping amusedly at the trio, especially at the fallen oldest Elric who was in the process of smearing his face with grime unintentionally as he tried and failed to keep the blood flow to a minimum.

"You jerk!" she shouted passionately, picking up her wrench. Ed hadn't even noticed that he could have hidden it from her when he had the chance. Too late. "I'm not the one indirectly suggesting that my childhood friend can't make good atuomail!"

Ed recoiled from her voice, but nonetheless attempted to defend himself. "I never indirectly suggested anything!"

Her foot stomped angrily onto the ground, grinding dust into his eyes. "Then what the heck did you mean by 'Make him into the best limb you ever made, _ever_"? Huh? You alchemy freak!" She pursed her lips and almost threw her tool once again before Ed stopped her with furious retort.

"It's called _suggesting that you can do it_, you automail junkie! Do you think that I think that you can't do it?"

"That's exactly what I think! I think that you think that I can't do it because you think that I think that you think that Al's old armor can't be turning into good parts!" Her arms flailed exasperatedly into the fuming hot air and Al chuckled instead of shrunk onto the guest bench that three had previously occupied. Now only one did, and he had to admit that he found this brother-Winry spat hilarious. It was like they were made for each other or something.

"Oh yeah? Well I think that you think that Al thinks that you think that I think that you can't make good automail, which is why you think that I think that Al's old armor can't be put to good use!" He stood up abruptly, blatantly ignoring the protests from the surrounding bystanders as he looked his shorter companion in the eye bravely. It took a lot of guts to take an aggravated Winry head on.

The girl glared at him, placing her hands on her hips in on swift motion. "Shrimp."

Ed's left eye twitched to that. "I'm taller than you," he said with a short-lived pride.

"You still don't drink you're milk, alchemy geek."

Clearly giving up, Edward stared directly back into her eyes, unfazed by the pouring fury that came from them. He would not be bothered by a girl like her. Nope. Not at all. Nothing would convince him to back down, not even his own primal instincts or his own brother. Nothing. At. All. He would stick to what he had to say next. He would stick to it and be proud of it. Yup. So proud. Proud enough that he could never regret it in life. Ed was ready to come up with something so profound and so out of control at the same time his senses were tingling with much anticipation. And then here it came…

"Automail obsessive woman!"

"Alchemy book hoarder!"

"Short stuff!"

"Guy who was shorter than _a girl _when he was fourteen!"

The banter could have gone on forever and Alphonse wouldn't have minded. It was an interesting experience, to watch his brother and Winry fight like this. Though he knew that the two of them never thought that their short fights were ever fun, rather, most likely the opposite, he couldn't help but grin like a child who had just received the best birthday gift of a lifetime. One day, and he would bet all his savings on it, those two would be the perfect match for one another. If these battles were not enough to prove it, he could very well pull the "brother and Winry blush every time someone mentions that they should go out sometime" card.

But for now, as he watched the flames eat away at what was once his temporary body, it was like watching his past once again become consumed with the never ending heat. He was reminded of the fire that he and his brother set to their old home so that they would not be tempted to turn back, but now he looked at this fire and knew, deep down in the depths of his soul, that this time it was a good type of warmth. It was an orangey-yellow blaze that melted his cold, empty shell of a body into something new a whole, something that someone else could put to use and call it a limb that would last them ages and allow them to either carry things with their bare hands like they used to or stand on their own two feet after years of not being able to do so. Yes, this was a sign of another journey's end, but yet this was a new beginning for them all as well.

ooo

About a couple days had passed since Al's old armor for a body had arrived in Resembool from Central Command and the three of them had gone to their old friends in the blacksmiths' to request that they melt it down into useful parts for automail, as well as a week and a half since Ed and Al were released from the hospital after being forced to reside there for two months. The quarrel between Ed and Winry had ended with the silent treatment which lasted until dinnertime, but both Al and Granny Pinako were too amused to feel inclined to pressure the two sixteen-year-olds to come up with a truce. In fact, the silence only totally made its full circle when his brother and childhood friend were on the same side in the argument that Alphonse was clearly not eating enough food and that he needed a larger portion of the stew so that he could recover his malnourished self before he was allowed to leave the table.

It was two against a single, skinny one. Obviously, the youngest Elric did not win the fight.

The weather was a wide range of things. From open cloudless skies, to the harmonious late summer breeze, the day was perfect to relax even for just a bit. After all, the doctors proposed that the two Elrics should not strain themselves for the next few months. They still had a lot of recuperating to do, even though neither of them wanted to admit it. Winry was only too glad to comply.

So, the afternoon had found the trio, yet again, spending their time in leisure as they had been recently. Ed, who was still trying to let his right arm grow to match his left because it had been missing for the past four years, occasionally punched forth with it in midair, willing the weak muscles to enlarge in size. Al, on the other hand, walked steadily with the support of a cane, his brother close to him just in case he got too tired or stumbled in weariness.

Their feet trudged happily through a miniature nearby forest, branches swaying in the wind and bright green leaves glinting in the sunlight. Their noses picked up the sweet aqua scent of river water flowing on the terraces and edges of rigid crevices in the earth and smooth, gray stones speckled with flecks of algae. Spots of gentle water splashed on the riverbank and this only willed the three childhood friends to move closer. The sun was beating down on them through the thin canopy and though the shade was protecting them from the brunt of the vivid summer heat, it would be as well to feel the soft splatter of even cooler water droplets against the pores of their skin.

"This is nice," Winry sighed jovially, carefully placing her steps on the river's edge. The other two wordlessly nodded in mutual conformity. "Remember? We used to do this a lot when we were kids."

Al chuckled. "Yeah! And brother would try to push you into the water." At this, Edward groaned. He could feel another one of those stories coming along.

"Right! How could I forget that? Ed was such a mean kid. Well, he's still pretty much a jerk now, but I have to admit that he's less of one." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Okay. I take that back. He's still pretty cruel."

"Ya' know, I'm right here," Ed mumbled dejectedly, to which the two others laughed out loud. Sometimes, and they could quietly declare it, teasing Ed could be quite the entertainment when nothing else was out there.

Al sauntered onward, going ahead of his brother and Winry. He leaned most of his weight onto his wooden cane and smiled genuinely. He could finally appreciate how the world felt after so long. He could speak his own words from his own lips, feel the sun kiss his cheeks, and actually smell the beauty of the outdoors. How great the world they were living in could be, even though their universe had not been all that wonderful to him before, he sure could appreciate it now.

But Al guessed that the universe would not be so kind to him all the time.

Suddenly feeling queasy from how much had he put forth in terms of energy already, he tripped over his two feet, causing his supportive cane to topple over into the rushing flow of the river beside him. But, unfortunately, that also allowed his unbalanced and unsteady body to fall towards the deep as well.

He thought he was going to fall. He couldn't swim. He hadn't in years and he was not so sure that he had strength enough to splash against the current and propel himself upward. And as much as he was expecting that frigid, mocking, accidental plummet into the water, it never came. Instead, a pair of steady arms clutched his shoulders and hefted him unceremoniously face-first onto the dirt. Then, nothing.

Al didn't even notice that he held his breath throughout the whole ordeal, didn't notice that he had scraped one of his knees, didn't notice that he was lying spread-eagled upon the ground with his eyes shut tightly in anticipation. He sat up forcefully, looking around, but all he saw was Winry, calling his brother's name at the quickening river.

Al's eyes widened in fear. What happened here? All he knew was the he slipped and almost fell into the tributary and that someone had saved him before it was too late.

"Oh no," he blurted in stark comprehension.

Winry hoped beyond hope that Ed would come up soon, but he did not. The time was already well past a minute, but it felt like an eternity. She stiffened her arms and legs, tying her light terraces of hair into a firm ponytail quickly and glanced back at Alphonse who was struggling to stand up. His cane had floated a way's away and she was sure that they would have to purchase him a new one.

"Winry! Don't tell me brother is…" he went on to say, but did not finish. She only made a gesture with her head that it was all true: that Ed had fallen into the deep end of the water and didn't seem to be coming up for air.

He frantically attempted to get on his feet yet again, but she shouted over her shoulder that she would have to save him, worry engulfing her tone of voice. Before the Elric could protest further, she had dived in.

Her eyes were open in a hysterical search. She had never taken note of exactly how _deep _this river was. For some reason, the foam and seemingly bottomless dark made it look deeper than it actually was. Her head turned from side to side, up and down, trails of bluish-yellow locks from her long bangs framed her face gracefully, in severe comparison to her heart's anxious beating. Where was he? Where was Ed?

Then, a pair of pale arms caught her attention. Light hair and limbs hovering up in the direction of the surface and with a ghostly pallor was Edward. Soft bubbles emitted from his nostrils and from his slightly ajar mouth. His eyelids had covered his eyes and his expression was somewhat dissonantly tranquil. The reflection of the water added a mild hue to his features, and Winry could argue that it was the most at peace that she had ever seen her best friend, but somehow, she loathed the sight more than anything else on the planet.

But what caught her attention the most was the odd angle his left leg was in, his _automail _leg and how the prosthetic seemed to be pulling him down.

Shaking her head in order to heave herself back to her senses, she surged with her hands outstretched and caught him on his back, subsequently swimming back to the open as her lungs screamed in disapproval. She couldn't hold her breath much longer. She needed air; both of them did.

A few seconds later, Winry's head broke through, gasping for oxygen and she grabbed onto a rock to counterbalance the tributary's current. Carefully, she boosted a limp Ed through the water and rolled him onto the land, grimacing when he did not even react to it. A moment later, her strength and will alone led her to dry land soon after.

The mechanic was on all fours, panting heavily and Al had crawled to his brother, trying to shake him awake, but he did not stir. He wasn't breathing.

"Brother! Brother! Wake up! Please!" Al's hands were trembling and he blatantly ignored his bleeding knee even though the cut looked quite sore. "Open your eyes! BREATHE!"

Suddenly, Winry's voice split through the alchemist's yells. "Al! Move over! I have to do it!"

"What're you…?" he started to question, but he hastily pushed himself aside when his inquiry was rapidly answered.

She pinched the bridge of Ed's nose, tilting his chin back, and forced a mouthful of air into his lungs with her own mouth. It was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The kiss of life. In a fast surge of information, Winry remembered every single detail her parents taught her to do if someone wasn't breathing. Her hands pumped up and down on his unmoving chest after deftly unbuttoning his long-sleeved collar shirt, counting out loud to thirty before holding his nose and blowing air into his mouth again.

Agonizing minutes passed like the slow ticking of the hands of a clock when someone is waiting for something dreadful to occur. Nothing happened. Ed did not stir, but Winry did not stop with the process. Al waited impatiently as he watched, helpless, on the other side of her.

Then, abruptly, there was a weak and surprised coughing fit. Water and saliva dribbled down Edward's jaw line and his pupils were pinpricks of shock to the bright sunlight. His breaths came in short wheezes, and his face was still rather placid, but some color began to return. He blinked up at the two people that were staring down at him, unaware of what had just transpired.

"W—Winry? Al? What happened?" he mumbled almost inaudibly. The other two sighed profoundly in relief.

"You idiot," the Rockbell said with a glassy gaze, "We thought we lost you. Next time you play the hero, make sure that it isn't next to water first. You know that automail isn't suited for swimming. Now look at you…" She shook her head, orbs darkening in a terrible fear the she had almost lost _him _again. Tears started to slide on her cheekbones.

"Wait. Winry, don't cry!" Ed tried to placate her in the strongest voice her could muster, but to no avail. The waterworks had already begun.

Then his brother added in to the conversation. "Brother, please don't do that again," Al spoke with a shaky tone, "I know my body is still weak, but you're still recovering too. Don't forget, we just came back! What if I lost you after all we've been through and after we got our bodies back?"

Ed was taken aback by both of his companions' words. All he had done was save his little brother from exactly what had happened to him. What if it had been Alphonse that almost drowned? What if his weakened body couldn't take as much pressure as his could? He tried to sit up and tell them so, but they only shoved him back on the ground. Shortly afterward, Winry told him the news that his automail leg was broken, most likely taking the full impact of an awkward fall. It needed to be repaired.

"Look, Ed," her stare bored into his intensely and she glanced over to the other Elric. "Al, you and your idiot brother will stay here while I go get Granny. Both of you can't walk and I can't carry you both. I'll be back soon." With that, she up and left them behind and they watched as she ran through the miniature forest, her wet shorts and dark blue shirt clinging to her skin and Edward secretly admired her ability to step in and help, no questions asked.

After she left, Ed realized that his top had been undone. He wondered aloud why that was and Al unthinkingly told him that Winry had saved him with mouth-to-mouth and needed to get the fabric out of the way so that she could pound his chest with air. When he found out, the pale color of his facial features turned into the red of a cherry tomato.

"She…wha—what…?" he stuttered, but Alphonse snickered in reply as they spotted Winry and Pinako sprinting up the pathway. Their saviors were finally here.

They were lifted up brusquely by the two women, Winry taking Edward because he was heavier and Granny shouldering most of Al's weight even though she was much shorter than him.

The next hour or so consisted of constant fussing over Edward's unearthly skin tone (which had reverted back once the embarrassment was over), and his utter recklessness in the situation, as well as Al's skinned knee. Ed was especially furious at the two females for not paying closer attention to his little brother which he insisted, _clearly _required more attention and that they needed to buy him a new cane as soon as humanly possible. Of course, everyone else, including Al, turned all their concentration toward him because he was the one who had the near death experience.

"I'm fine!" Ed bellowed with a slight rasp, still struggling to get his voice box to work properly. He tried to force himself to sit up in the bed that he was dumped in after they made him change into dry clothing. Needless to say, he plunked back down almost immediately.

"Don't be stupid Ed," Granny Pinako said firmly. She and Winry lifted the sheets to reveal his oddly bent automail leg. "We're going to remove this and fix it up for you. And since all of us here know you're a stubborn little runt, we won't put on a temporary one just so you won't be able to escape this room."

Al fully approved from his seat beside the bed, to which Ed shot a betrayed look.

"I'm stuck in this thing? What the hell Granny?"

"Don't argue Edward! You'll stay in bed for a few days, no more, no less, and you better do it or you'll never get this leg back. Do you understand?"

When he was about to argue back, Winry and her grandmother gave the queue to unlatch the defective machinery and yanked it from his body, leaving Ed with an tormented scream that he held back with only his lips. They left him panting while they carried the limb away, save for Alphonse who stayed behind to keep watch.

The door closed shut behind them and Ed and Al resigned to talking for hours about nothing and everything. It was mostly pointless ideas, theories on the alchemy that Edward had given up, and numerous reminisces. They were only visited for dinner, which had been a tray of a bottle of milk, seasoned string beans with cabbage, and a plate of steaming roast beef and fresh potatoes. Ed avoided to milk, and all the residents of the home knew he would, but it didn't hurt to try now and again.

Through the night, Winry had set up a cot for Al to sleep on so that he could stay with his brother. She checked up on Ed frequently, feeling his pulse and making sure that he rested. Drowning was a huge tension on your lungs. Her eyes told it all though. She was worried sick, and soon, after a day had passed, her visits were so rare that Ed found himself looking forward to them, to which Al recognized instantly and furtively smirked whenever he wasn't looking.

Finally, a full three days had come and gone. The eldest Elric was undoubtedly irritable. He was back to normal, damn it! Surely, someone didn't need _that long _to get well from sinking to the bottom of a river and gasping for air that would not come.

What started to anger him more what that Winry and Alphonse seemed to be spending a lot more time together. They whispered in the corners, glimpsing at him to see if he was looking. Al had received a new cane and would limp out of the room at any random time of day. It was starting to make Ed extremely suspicious and irate.

By the time it came to the evening of the fourth day, the blond couldn't take the madness any longer. As soon as Alphonse gently closed the entrance to his bedroom he asked him, "Okay, what are you doing with Winry? Are you guys together or something? Is the bean from Xing not good enough for you?"

Al tried to hold it in, indeed, yes he did, but the escalating mirth came spewing from his lips as soon as his older brother suggested it. He laughed so hard that he had to clutch his sides and he doubled over in hilarity.

"What," he said laughingly in between breaths, "Are…are you _jealous_ brother?"

"Wha—_what_? _Jealous_? No way! I'm not jealous! What the hell made you think that?" When his younger brother raised his eyebrows at him, he continued hurriedly. "I—I'm just wondering _why _you and Winry are talking to each other all the damn time, is all. I'm still _here _remember? You don't have to leave me on this stupid thing all day! I'm getting all fidgety!" Then as if to emphasize his statement, Ed waved his arms and leg on the bedspread.

"Right. You're not jealous at all," Al put down sarcastically, but his brother did not catch the irony.

Ed grinned, blind to his own true perspectives on what he thought was not jealousy. "See Al? I knew you'd get it!" he pointed to his sibling with a winning smile, but then he regressed back to the original question. "So why are you and Winry talking a lot?"

About to smack his forehead at the other Elric's insistence, Al tried his best to come up with a feasible response that wouldn't give away the surprise, but his luck ran out. Into the room came a foolishly joyous Winry Rockbell, her hands clasped eagerly behind her back, unmistakably hiding something there. Ed raised a brow.

She stepped forward and exchanged a sly glance with Al, who nodded enthusiastically, to which the third occupant lying on the bed only grew gradually more confused. The two of them walked up to the side of the single bed and ruffled the blankets as they both sat on the perimeter, strangely giddy in a way that Ed could not bear to describe. It was _weird_. He had not an inkling with what to say to them. The message that they would bring could only make or break him…so he believed.

Winry's hand shot forward and lightly patted the top of one of Ed's. Something icy and round skimmed the back of his palms and he quietly speculated what it could be. Something long and chainlike hit the white sheets covering his torso and he found that it was silvery, almost like a link of numerous rings clinging together. Then, the circular object was revealed. The thing was his State Alchemists' pocket watch.

The engraving of Amestris' dragon enclosed within a rectangular star, its tail peeking out just behind it. The bottom half, which was bulging with the intricately carved wreath, shined brilliantly in the candlelight, and the chain link twinkled like a not so distant memory squeezing from the depths of a lost consciousness that he thought he had forgotten.

He was at a loss for words as they lodged in his throat. He couldn't say them at all. But then, he managed to sputter out a few. "I thought…I mean…I thought I left this with Mustang…"

Al smiled knowingly. "You _thought _you did, but I knew you still wanted it," he glimpsed over at the Rockbell one more time then back to his older sibling. "So I secretly asked the Brigadier General to ship it over. It came a couple days ago."

"But…Al…"

The younger Elric pointed up his cane as a sign for him to stop talking. "I think I know you better than that brother."

Ed accepted it. He accepted it all. The knowing stares, the pocket watch, the memories…they all came flowing back at him. He was well aware that Alphonse knew him better than he sometimes knew himself. Al knew that he dwelled on the past, knew that he basically basked in it. The past was what defined Edward; it was what made him who he was and what he was meant to be. He liked to remember it, no matter how painful, because he knew that in the past was where lay his mistakes, and mistakes were lessons that he could learn from for the future.

The former Fullmetal Alchemist saw his brother and childhood friend make another gesture of continuation and in a flash Winry was out of the room and back, but this time, she was holding a black, leather-bound suitcase, no doubt a burden to carry. But she brought the package in without any complaint to take into account.

Al limped over to a mahogany table on the other side of the room and slowly directed it over to the foot of the bed, Winry helping instantly. She placed the container on top of it and unlatched the fastenings excitedly, but Ed had no view to what was inside it, for the top cover and handle was facing him. In a short moment though, his eyes set upon the most advanced piece of automail machinery had had ever seen.

The steel had a sheen of physically powerful, yet soft silver. It gave off the aura that made it seem like this limb was only created for him and no one else could have it. The toes looked flexible, the middle unbelievably sturdy, and the knots and bolts that held the prosthetic leg together appeared almost nonexistent. The material was smooth, perfectly shaped and perfectly defined; fit to be his new leg to stand proudly on.

"Right, Ed," Winry said with a prideful manner, "Let's fit this automail."

Still unable to offer anything of relevance, Ed complied easily. Steadily, they lifted off the blanket and Ed sat on the edge of the bed, foot dangling and his empty port awaiting a brand new master.

Alphonse backed away into a corner as Winry rolled up her sleeves and removed a rather large torque wrench from the confines of the suitcase. She carefully lifted the leg to fit nicely into the port and on the count of three, she warned Ed to brace himself. She turned the wrench forcefully and the nerves in his upper leg attached completely to the artificial limb and even though he resisted the urge to yell out, the leg had finally become his.

Usually, the connection would hurt much more than this, pounding for at least an hour before he could be fully recovered, but mere minutes afterward, the pain had ceased altogether. He was astonished and voiced his opinion verbally to his mechanic, to which he received a terse reply of, "Of course you idiot. This is the best automail I've created yet. You better be grateful."

Al told Ed to take out his battered pocket watch and he handed it to Winry.

"Wow. It feels really light, but why the watch?" asked Ed, becoming more curious as time went on. Were there any more surprises? He was appreciative of the new leg and all, but it was just another automail replacement. He admired the handiwork and craftsmanship and of course the seemingly new technology, but he could not put together why they were still so flighty. They had unexpectedly given him his State Alchemists' watch and reattached his leg (_finally_ he might add), but was there something more?

"See this Ed?" Winry pointed to a steel plate on the bottom half of his left leg. There were tightly secured latches on it that you could only open if you twisted very decisively and cautiously. "I added something that no other automail part has. It's light because it's partially hollow inside, but all parts are reinforced with titanium, so it's dent resistant, very strong, and lightweight."

She unlatched the fasteners on the plate and turned them precisely to the right. Ed watched attentively, for fear the he might anger the girl, but also because he probably would have to end up doing this himself if he wasn't careful.

The blonde opened the miniature door and inside was another covering, but this time, it had the perfect indent of a familiar object. Yes. This is why he needed his pocket watch. Its open form was his key to unlock this one last latch. He did it himself, asking to click the button on its top in order to open it wide. Its alchemical bond had been completely undone by his younger brother.

The contents of the watch brought back recollections. He read his purposeful and scrawny handwriting that was etched messily onto the watch-less side.

_Don't forget 3. Oct .11_

He sighed, and placed his memory into the keyhole, pressing down on it when the opening didn't budge, but then, the covering slid to the side and opened outward, revealing a glossy, recognizable crimson seal upon its back. It was coated with a smooth, polished film that protected it from the elements just in case it ever managed to detach itself from the automail limb. Behind it was a lever that Winry explained could be used to adjust to any height change that Ed might experience, so he could simply open the small hatchet and move his automail to fit his current size.

But even though his mechanic had explained all of this and he had no doubt paid close attention, Ed couldn't take his golden eyes off of the seal. The _blood seal_. _Alphonse's _blood seal. It was Edward's own blood, from when they had been naïve and dim-witted children, Al ten and Ed eleven. It was from when Ed was compelled to save his one and only little brother from the cruelty of the Truth and the Gate and Human Transmutation. It was a memory that he would never forget, that he _couldn't _forget, that did not want to forget.

For a lesson has to have pain for it to be meaningful to anyone.

"Al," he whispered, amazingly solemn, "This is you, isn't it? This is your armor. I'm wearing the old you…you became…"

The youngest Elric grinned. "That's it brother. It was Winry's idea. I came up with making my old armor into automail parts, but it was Winry that decided that the parts were best used for you."

Ed's expression softened as his gaze turned to his best friend. Something indefinable was there, unexplainable, but yet it was sincere and purely _there _at the same time. "You did this, Winry?" he asked quietly, out of his usually character of a boisterous, loud-mouth and cocky teenager. "You and Al but…you made this and used the armor…for _me_?"

The Rockbell girl blushed slightly, staring down at the wooden panels of the floor. "I designed it all. Al came up with the idea for the pocket watch though. We figured that since you never really got your leg back, well, we'd come up with one that you'd like to remember."

A smile so genuine and so content made Edward Elric a different person that day. He thanked Alphonse abundantly, patting him on the head and saying that he was the best little brother that anyone could have. He started wondrously at the blood seal that he never knew his brother appreciated enough to keep safe and give back as a reminder to the older brother that had risked his life to make it.

Alphonse literally _became _the leg Edward stood on from that day forth. The reminders, the painful lessons, all compressed into something as different and profound as his automail leg. The fact was all too true that he dwelled in the past, that the past made him who he was and who he was ultimately meant to grow up into, but now that past had become a constant memorandum of collected teachings, teachings that would instruct him to live and learn on the correct path in life in order to allow both legs to stand up and keep moving forward.

"Thanks Winry," Ed stood up happily as the other two followed suit. "I owe you one, automail junkie."

He did another thing that was extremely uncharacteristic of him that night and uncertainly embraced the Rockbell before him and held her close to his heart. Al snickered in the background, but none of them noticed and they were just satisfied there for a while, unmoving, yet running as far down the winding path of life as possible.

Never dash too quickly towards the impending future.

Never stray too far from the present.

But don't forget the past, and don't forget about the past that made you walk forward in the world and made you who you are.

Yes.

_Don't forget 3. Oct .11_

And Edward would always remember that date.


End file.
